Isn’t what some provinces are doing, taking funding away from the low-income people to whatever the latest education spending venture that are cook up?  Or in the case of Ontario, clawing back on welfare cheques, on monies that came from the federal government. With the new ELP program under way, there is no hope at all, that the Ontario government will end the clawing back on welfare cheques and other support programs?  There are going to need all the revenue to pay for the ELP program. Even with the addition of HST, and in some circles, Ontario stands to collect 6 billion dollars every year, the government will cry out they need more revenue for education, even though student enrollment is declining, in most regions.

I suspect folks using food stamps don’t have either the financial clout or the political savvy that teacher unions do aso there’s not much to be lost, other than ethically, by hitting them to help out the teachers.  No doubt it could be argued that happy teachers are better teachers….

Here in Ontario McGuinty never restored welfare rates to where they’d be if Harris hadn’t cut them and yet he’s pouring billions into dubious education spending. 

Politicians love to talk about helping the poor but the middle and upper class pull the strings.

Teacher Unions Hoisted !

Gotta love those teacher unions.  Without them we would not have such neat “worst-case-scenarios” as ugly exhibits when we talk about union abuses.  How greedy can you get?  Is this part of the “entitlement culture”.  Are they just being capitalists seeking more profits?

Is this about opportunism?  About whipsaw actions in collective bargaining?  If X union gets Viagra as a medical benefit, then we need that too.

Another aspect of this lesson is the question of why is this allowed to happen?  Is this a subject they discuss in public policy classes in universities?

Are these boards and governments that allow themselves to be walked over by the teacher unions being blackmailed?  Why are they so intimidated?  Do the unions somehow get the keys to the closets of these decision-makers and know the skeletons therein?  Are the unions bankrolling political elections – state/province-level, school board level?

From the firestorm this move in Milwaukee has engendered the larger unionist movement is now worried there will be a backlash.  The thousands of comments on the blogs and news-sites are amazing.  And people generally are very angry. 

Talk about the class struggle that unions always seem to be bringing up.  Well, the comments are clearly showing resentment at the benefits the teacher unions are getting for their members.  Especially in these recessionary times, this Viagra demand hurts. 

And it’s going to court!

Again, I say:  This is a policy issue.  It’s not just the greedy teacher unions wanting Viagra.  It’s the fact that their employers have acquiesced to such ridiculous demands.  Why is there this VACUUM that unions can demand and get so much?  Don’t these employers know how to say “NO”?

This current demand is not new.  It’s just something Milwaukee teachers want restored since they had it in 2005!  Seems that our staffers at the BC Teachers Federation have had access to $500 worth of Viagra since 2006!

It’s obvious that the teachers’ unions are very powerful, and that politicians are scared to stand up to them.  Despite the billions of dollars given to them (McGuinty has given our Ontario teachers unions millions in grants as well—sorry I don’t have the site to post) there is still a shift occurring in the states, and the sooner it begins here, the better.
I’m disappointed in the US democrats.  I thought that this group had more integrity than to pander to the teachers unions when the economy is in such a precarious position right now.

Ah, the world would be so much better if there were no unions and we were all completely at the mercy of bosses and corporations. They are so wise and responsible that they would never harm or exploit anyone. Corporate rule is so wonderful.

If a fraction of the critical energy directed at teacher’s unions were redirected toward constructivist teacher education programs, we might actually improve student learning. Do the people here really want that, or do they just want to indulge their prejudices?

We really want that!!!!

Poking fun at the teachers’ unions is just a hobby. In fact, it’s too bad the teachers’ unions won’t join us in the hunt against constructivism, since their members would benefit hugely. We would promise to stop making fun of them…..

Mrs. Dare, I was glad to find this site. As a left-leaning teacher who leans towards conservative educational practice, I would love to find like-minded people to work with. As I seek this, too often I find myself in the company of right-wingers who brag about their gun collections fly wildly off topic with rants about big government, unions, etc. For a short while, I thought I’d found a source of reasonable, measured thought. Now I’m wondering.

I respect what you are doing. I respect it enough to think critically about it. Your “hobby” of “poking fun” at teacher’s unions is a dangerous indulgence. When you practice it, you alienate many people who would otherwise be inclined to work with you. How does that help the cause of displacing constructivism? People are funny that way. Insulting them is hardly the best way to convince them to share your views. Also, a great deal of abuse is passed off as “just kidding.” People see through that.

From time to time, I hate my union. But I know the history of labor in America and I know where we’d be without them. I respect your work. To that end I will respectfully submit that you have it backward. Promise to stop making fun/insulting them, and perhaps they’ll join you. Or at least give a listen.

I think you will find that our support for school choice makes it impossible for any union to work together with us. But I’d love to be proven wrong!

C’mon, Malkin. Don’t give up. That doesn’t sound like you.

And, by the way. Happy Labor Day, everyone—Labour Day, for all of the good people of Canada. Let’s all take a moment to consider all of the things that the Labour movement has fought to bring us, which we often take for granted.

For heaven’s sake Teacher X.  You insinuate that we’re gun-toting right-wingers, yet you say that you can’t take a little fun poked at your teachers’ unions.  Do you not like a level playing field?  When reading the teachers’ union contracts, I would have to say that you don’t.

To add to Bev’s last post, I was too taken back by TeacherX remarks. Unions is a necessary counter-balance in today’s world, to combat and work for fair working conditions and pay, against those who would , if they could, sent all of us back to lower wages and poorer working conditions. But when unions, such as what is described in the blog link are working toward this; “The fact that the feds are bailing out schools and preventing reform doesn’t come as much of a surprise.  But what is shocking is how the Senate bill proposes to pay for this extra $26 billion — cuts in food stamps.  That’s right, we are literally going to take food out of the mouths of hungry people in order to keep upper-middle class teachers fully employed with their gold-plated pensions and health benefits.

And if that wasn’t outrageous enough, look at what the Milwaukee teachers union would like to do with their gold-plated health benefit.  They want to restore a prescription benefit for Viagra, which had been cut in 2005 to save some money.”

It leaves a sour taste in anybody’s mouth, no matter where one is on the political spectrum. And speaking about alienation, try talking to parents.

Here we go…

Bev,

I most certainly did not insinuate that you are gun-toting right-wingers. I said that I had run across that in other places. On the contrary, I said that this site seemed more reasonable, but that now I was wondering. I was wondering if people on this site in general were more reasonable than most, not if you love guns. I don’t see any of that here. Nor did I say that I can’t take a little fun poked at “my” teachers’ unions (when did I come to possess one, let alone several?). What I said was that it wasn’t just a little fun, and that it was counterproductive. Other than that, you are putting words in my mouth.

Nancy,

As far as the Viagra business goes, of course that is outrageous (Viagra itself is outrageous). But choosing an odious example like that and using it to whack away at unions collectively is a tired ploy.
What is going on here is not “a little fun,” but is instead rather gratuitous abuse. Hey, wait a minute. I just carefully reread the original post. It says that the Senate gave $26 billion “to the teachers’ unions.” Deposited $26 billion right into the union coffers, did they? That is flatly untrue. The article says that the measure spends $10 billion to prevent teacher layoffs, which is different. It speculates that an additional $16 billion might follow. Hmm. Don’t let the facts get in the way of a good story. And Jay Greene? Look on Amazon to see Walt Gardner take him nicely to task.

I note that none of you wants to directly address my main point: that taking shots like this is counterproductive and misguided because it needlessly alienates people who might want to work with you. I would expect that the work of E. D. Hirsch has some respect on this site and he has written more than once against using needlessly polarizing language. He manages to provide a thorough critique of child-centered methods without resorting to it.

Also, you think the Viagra business is bad? One thing I hate about the union I belong to, the WEA, is that they send me all this crap about credit cards and home equity loans when I’d rather be getting quality professional development. The AFT is different, which reminds me of two points I think you’ll have trouble refuting.

1) Where did constructivist ideas on teaching come from, the unions or the university? I think it was from the university. And I think focusing on unions misses the point and wastes time and energy.

2) The more east coast of the two main American teachers’ unions, the American Federation of Teachers, is the more educationally traditional of the two, and has published several articles by E.D. Hirsch, Daniel Willingham, Diane Ravitch, Diana Senechal, and others that have gone a long way toward defining what quality education truly is. The AFT also deeply annoys me sometimes, but I appreciate the quality work they often publish.

So, I’m reading a lot of Dan Willingham’s work lately and I’m going to go back and re-read Madeline Hunter’s “Mastery Teaching.” I’m just going to keep working toward learning and practicing sound, effective teaching. We have to patiently challenge constructivist ideas and continually teach ourselves sound methods.

X

To Teacher X

Yes, the use of polarizing language is self-defeating, but it is often used even in daily life, when neither side is listening to each other. As a parent, I object to teachers’ unions that are making public education a politicized debate, and often the children are used to served their self-interests.

I rarely encounter a teachers’ union, advancing goals in on going teaching training, where all or part of the costs will be picked up by the government, in areas of sound effective teaching. In Canada, the unions rather concentrate on how many minutes the teacher needs in prep time, and not so much on effective teaching practices. The PD days provided, do not offer or even hope to cover the breathe of the known effective teaching methods, and the promising methods of the future, As you have stated, we must continually teach ourselves sound methods.  Would it not be easier if teachers’ unions start to provide working toward a goal of having a comprehensive training sessions for teachers built in their contracts, rather than having the individual teacher read on it on their own time or pay the fees to acquire the training?  I still have the grade 6 teacher voice ringing in my head, stating that it was not his job reading about LD issues that impact learning in the classroom.

The teachers’ union are powerful and have great influence on what, how, and by whom in the public education system. Yet, this power and influence is rarely used to promote effective changes in areas of reading, writing and numeracy, based on the science.